Zuko's Charge
by Anawey
Summary: While returning from Kyoshi Island, Zuko finds a young girl named Sophie Andrews. But, she's not from his world. How will little Sophie get along in an entirely new world? And can an innocent little girl bring Zuko out of his shell?
1. Finding

Zuko's Charge

While returning from Kyoshi Island, Zuko finds a young girl named Sophie Andrews. But, she's not from his world. How will little Sophie get along in an entirely new world? And can an innocent little girl bring Zuko out of his shell?

Disclaimer; I'm fifteen. I'm female. The creators and owners of Avatar are named Mike and Brian. Both males. As I am neither, I do not own Avatar, just Sophie.

Finding  
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Sophie laughed, swinging back and forth on her swing. She loved her home. She was just three, and everything seemed so great to her. She smiled, swinging her feet back and forth. As she moved her feet, the toe of one of her sandals touched the ground beneath her, and the swing dropped away, and Sophie fell forward with a tiny yelp, landing hard on the ground, unconscious.

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-

Zuko grumbled angrily. Today was just not his day. He _had _him. The Avatar was _right in front of him. _But those crazy girls had completely kicked his butt, and sent him - the _prince of the Fire Nation -_and his trained firebenders packing. _So, humiliating, _Zuko thought angrily. He jerked the reigns when the rhino shied to the left. But the animal wouldn't stop.

"The path goes _that _way, stupid beast!" Zuko snarled. Normally, he wasn't in such a sour mood, but he could feel several areas that would be bruised by the morning. but the rhino continued to pull toward the left, not caring what Zuko did. Growling, Zuko rolled his eyes. Maybe the creature knew something he didn't. He decided to let it lead him where it wanted. But he _wasn't _happy about it. He _needed _to get the Avatar, not follow some dumb animal to Agni knew -

"Oh, spirits," he whispered, shocked.

Sliding effortlessly off the back of the heavy rhino, Zuko ran over to the figure lying curled on the ground, tossed like some sort of rag doll. He turned the tiny person over. She was just a child! _Maybe _three or four. Her clothes were strange, and, apart from a few bumps and bruises, she looked to be okay, except that she was unconscious. He looked at her again, wondering just where she was from. Her clothes were strange, unlike anything he'd ever seen. Her shirt was a light pink, the word 'Disney' - whatever that meant - written on the front. She wore blue pants made of a strange material, and her shoes were open, hardly able to protect her tiny feet. She looked innocent, her red, curling hair falling around her face. Gently, he lifted her into his arms, and looked around. Why was such a young child out in the world alone? Anyway, she was lucky it was him and not Zhao who'd found her.

But he was waisting time. The Avatar was escaping, and he needed to get back on his ship and follow him. Carefully, he set the girl in the saddle, then climbed onto the rhino behind her, and set off for the ship, going faster than before.

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Yes, it's short, but I just wanted this part to stand on it's own. Review, please!


	2. Taking Her In

Here's the next chapter for ya!! Enjoy.

Taking Her In  
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Zuko felt an over all sense of relief when the ship came into view. He was concerned; the girl hadn't woken up yet. _How hard did she fall? _he wondered, worried. Normally, had this been an older child, or an adult, he wouldn't have been so anxious, but this girl was just a _baby, _harly old enough to be on her own. What had happened to her that she was out here all alone?

He let his soldiers take care of his mount. The girl needed to be seen to at once. So he walked off onto the ship to find his uncle and Jee.

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Sophie groaned. She could hear muffled voices, and fought hard to open her eyes.

"She's... up, Zuko!"

"...can _see..._Unlce."

Sophie's eyes slowly fluttered open. At first, her vision was blurry, and it was hard to focus, but after a moment, three figures came into view. The first, and closest, was smiling gently. There was a huge scar on the side of his face. She wasn't sure where she was, and she was scared.

"Wh-where's Mommy?" Sophie whispered, backing away from the three men she didn't know. The one with the scar reached out carefully, and rested his hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay, you're safe." He smiled at her, gently.

"Where am I?" Sophie asked, liking the gentle light in his gold eyes. Though his bearing suggested a harsher attitude, his eyes were soft, and warm.

"You're on our ship," one of the other two men said. He looked a lot harsher than the first guy, and Sophie shrank back a little, until the other person, a kind-looking old man who reminded Sophie at once of her grandfather, verbally rescued her.

"Jee," he scolded. "You're scaring the little dear. What's your name?" he asked, smiling as kindly as the first guy.

"S-Sophie Andrews," Sophie whispered, her blue eyes taking in the rest of the room. The bed she was on was huge to her, and everything was red. She started to really like this room; red _was _her favorite color. "What's your name?" she asked the one who'd spoken to her first.

"Zuko," he said simply. Sophie giggled.

"That's a funny name," she said, smiling innocently. "I like it." Zuko grinned.

"That's my uncle, Iroh," Zuko explained. Iroh waved, a bright smile on his face. "And this," Zuko looked at Jee with a slight reproach in his eyes, "is Leutenant Jee." Jee nodded, and looked about to say something, but one stern look from Zuko silenced him.

"So," the man Zuko had pointed out as Iroh asked, "where are you from, Sophie?"

"Bwistol Coneticit," Sophie told him. Zuko, Iroh and Jee exchanged looks.

"And _where _is that?" Jee asked in a cold monotone. Sophie shied at his tone, and Zuko glared at him.

"Please, Sophie," Zuko said gently, "tell us where Bristol Connecticut is, so we can take you home."

"In Amewica," Sophie explained.

"Uncle, is there even such a place around here?" Zuko asked Iroh.

"None that I know of, Nephew," Iroh replied. "Though there _have _been instances of people falling into another world."

"That must be it," Jee mumbled. "I suggest we put her back where she belongs as soon as possible."

"Leutenant," Zuko growled, "Do you _really _want that? Think of what that would mean, for _you._" The banished prince glared at the Leutenant, who just grumbled, and left the room. "Sophie," Zuko asked, "would you like to stay with us until we find your home?" Sophie nodded, smiling gratefully up at Zuko, who smiled back. "then welcome aboard."

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Yeah, I know, short, but they will get longer as more happens. By the way, Sophie is based off of the little girl Page, who lives across the road from me. She's a real sweetie. Review, please.


	3. Questions and Answers

Kay, here's the next chapter!

Questions and Answers

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It was later that day, when Zuko went to his uncle. He'd been thinking about what he'd said. How did he know about other worlds? Wasn't there only theirs? He finally found Iroh up on the main deck, drinking tea, as usual.

"Uncle!" Zuko called, walking toward the old man. "I need to talk to you."

"What do you have to say, Nephew?" Iroh asked, looking up at Zuko, who sat down across a small table from his uncle.

"What were you talking about, people getting pulled from one world to another?" Zuko asked, looking at Iroh in confusion. Iroh nodded knowingly.

"Ah, yes. There's quite a story behind that..."

_/flashback/_

_Iroh sighed. Since when had life at the palace become so boring? He was crown prince, allowed to do whatever he wanted, and yet, he couldn't think of a singe thing._

_"What to do on a day like this?" he mused as he sat by the turtle-duck pond. And suddenly, he knew. He'd never been in the Dragon Bone Catacombs. It was the perfect adventure, to the fifteen-year-old prince. So, he stood, and wandered off to the old vaults beneathe the palace._

_Once there, Iroh scanned around the area, and found all sorts of old scrolls. There were some about war, tea, medicine, adventures, history. Then, he saw something interesting._

_"'World Traveling'?" he mused, picking up an ancient scroll. He un-rolled it, reading the words with interest;_

_**They may say I am insane, that I had fallen into some trouble, the Avatar spirit within me preserving my body for twelve years, but I know better. I was there, and though time has dulled my memory, I, Avatar Zhan, have been to another world. Along with this scroll, sealed within the chest, are the things I brought back from this other world. They have strange things that we could not even dream of creating with our technology. Things that allow even those who are not airbenders to fly. Things that allow humans to move even faster than the rhinos and ostritch horses. Faster, even, than sky bisons. Like metal cages, almost. There were other things, as well. Terrible. For the sake of our world, I can not even write of some of the things. Great and terrible war machines, the likes of which could destroy this world. Should anyone find this someday, know that I am not insane. I have been to this strange place. Look into the chest you found this scroll in, and maybe one day, I will be believed.**_

_Iroh frowned. Another world, with dangerous technology? Hopefully they didn't come here and join the other nations. But, then, what was this war for anyway? The Fire Nation may be the smallest nation, but there was plenty of room for its people. Sighing, Iroh forced the thoughts of war from his mind, and peeked into the old chest. There was a strange, flat, black thing, with a silver q on the top. Pulling it out, he looked at it, and found that it opened. There was a blank screen on one side, the other had a bunch of broken buttons. Setting it aside, he peered in again, pulling out an odd looking hourglass. It was beautiful, black, made of resin dragons, with red sand in the glass container in the center. There was one dragon on the base, and the detatchable hourglass was framed by two dragon heads, one at the top and bottom, with dragon wings to the sides. It was dark, but beautiful, and it still worked. Having always had an interest in strange things, Iroh decided to keep the hourglass. He flipped the hourglass over on the rod that connected it to the base, watching as the sands fell through to the other end. It was almost mesmarizing. The red sand looked like blood. Iroh watched with morbid fascination. Finally, he set this aside, too, and looked in again. But there was nothing else. Or at least, it looked like there was nothing else. On closer inspection, he found a small, L-shaped thing in the bottom of the chest. It had what looked like mother-of-pearl on the handle, and the rest looked like some sort of steel. There was a trigger near the handle, and at the other end, a hole. Iroh pushed a button, aiming the hole away from himself - he didn't want to get hurt, and he was fairly certain something would happen if he pulled the trigger. _

_When he pushed the small button, a piece of the thing came out, with eight empty slotts in them. Iroh glanced at it, realizing it was a weapon, and wondering just what it fired. Then he looked at the hourglass, trying to decide which he'd rather be caught with. And the hourglass was much prettier than the weapon in his hand. So, setting it down, he picked up the hourglass - his little souvenier from the day's adventure, and left the catacombs for his room, smiling at his good luck. _

_/end flashback/_

"That's,...uh..._interesting, _Uncle," Zuko replied carefully. "How much sake have you had latly?" Iroh looked indignant.

"None," he replied, pouting. "That story is entirely true. If you want, I can show you the hourglass, _and _the scroll."

"You kept them?" Zuko's eyebrow raised, and he looked at Iroh skeptically.

"Come on, Nephew," Iroh muttered, leading the prince to his room.

Upon reading the scroll and seeing the hourglass, Zuko was beginning to question whether Uncle was as crazy as he seemed sometimes.

"I can't belive it," he whispered. "I thought there was only this world." Iroh shook his head, shrugging.

"Aparently not," he replied, smiling slightly. Zuko rolled his eyes.

"I'm going to go train," the teen muttered, leaving the room.

_Maybe Uncle isn't actually crazy after all, _Zuko thought as he left Iroh's room.

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There it is. Chapter two. Someone had asked about how Iroh knew about other worlds in a review, so I put this in. Should clear things up. Review, please!


	4. First Night

And here's the fourth chapter!

First Night  
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That evening found Zuko standing on the deck, looking out over the sea.

"Zuko!"

He turned at the tiny, high voice, more like a squeak than anything. Sophie was trotting toward him, smiling brightly. "Hi, Zuko!" she chirrped, her blue eyes shining. Zuko smiled slightly. "Wanna p'ay?" Sophie asked, looking up at him hopefully. Zuko shook his head. Much as he found the little girl sweet and endearing, he didn't have the time.

"Sorry, Sophie," he muttered distractedly. "Not now. Why don't you go find Iroh? I'm sure he'd play with you."

Sophie sighed, looking down disapointedly.

"He's bussy," she mumbled, rocking back and forth on her toes. She yawned, suddenly, making Zuko realize that it was after sunset. He knew what to do.

"Sophie," he said gently, "It's getting late. Why don't you go to sleep, now? I promise, I'll play with you tomorrow, okay?"

Sophie's eyes lit up.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Zuko nodded, "as soon as I can find time. Go on. It's late. I'll bring you to your room."

Only a few soldiers saw the prince walk the little girl to her room. He spoke to her gently, and when she seemed too tired to keep going, he lifted her into his arms, holding her carefully, close to his body, protectively. Those that did see Zuko taking Sophie to bed - including a certain uncle - smiled, and continued on their way, pleased.

In Sophie's room, Zuko tucked the blankets up around her small frame, a gentle smile tugging at his lips. He turned to go, and was almost out the door, when Sophie's voice reached him, small, and frightened;

"Zuko," she whispered. Just the tone of her voice made Zuko turn and go back to her, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"What's wrong, Sophie?" he asked, concerned.

"Stay?" Sophie whispered pleadingly, gazing up at him in a persuasive pout. Zuko smiled dryly.

"I have to go," he said, his deep voice adopting a firm edge. "Good night."

"B-but," she whispered, looking at him imploringly, "the monsters!"

Zuko sighed. "There _are _no monsters, Sophie. They can't hurt you if you don't think about the turtleducks, okay?"

"Turtleducks?"

Zuko nodded, hoping his smile didn't look too superior, or the smart little girl might figure him out.

"Will you promise not to tell anyone?" he asked, his eyes glinting. Sophie nodded. "I used to have nightmares, too, but my uncle told me not to think about turtleducks, and the nightmares went away. All you have to do is say 'I will not think of turtleducks', okay?"

Sophie nodded, then a frown crossed her face. 'What's a turtleduck, Zuko?"

"Half turtle, half duck," he explained. "The babies are very cute so you can't think about them, okay?" Sophie nodded again.

"I will not think of baby turtleducks," she whispered, then smiled up at Zuko. "Night Zuko!"

"Good night, Sophie," Zuko returned, turning and leaving the room. He sighed. Much as he found the girl cute and endearing, she could be a bit annoying. He hoped he wouldn't lose patients with her. After all, this was only the first night.

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I can't believe I finally got this chapter done. It's been almost a month since I started this chapter. Heh, review, please!


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